Homeschooling Report

I think a light bulb finally went off last week in the dim attic region of my brain, regarding homeschooling.

 

I was inspired by a request from my kids to check out again an audio version of a story we had listened to last fall (when I was too sick during my first trimester to read out loud without throwing up). 

 

They wanted to listen to “The Penguin Who Wanted to Find Out” by Jill Tomlinson.  A VERY interesting story about an emperor penguin chick named Otto and all that he learns as he grows up in Antarctica, and very well read on the CD version our library has.

 

So, while I was at the library, I browsed through their DVD collection and found a National Geographic video about Emperor penguins.  I previewed it and decided it was ok for the kids to watch. 

Well, I says to myself, why don’t we just spend the whole week learning about penguins?  I found some activities, crafts, and more fun facts about penguins on the web.  I gave them penguin-related handwriting assignments, and found some math worksheets and puzzles for Travis that had penguins on them.  And, ironically, when we went to the doctor’s office on Friday, what movie were they playing on the TV in the waiting room?  An animated penguin movie!

I could tell the kids were engaged and learning because the dinner table conversation most of the week was about penguins.  They were eagerly telling Daddy about all the stuff they learned and saw on the videos.  They told the doctor stuff that they learned.  And one night, Heather and Jeffrey were getting out the hats and mittens and playing “Antarctica”.

 

So, here is where the light bulb went off (or is that “on”?)  I did a similar thing at the end of July and beginning of August – I took two weeks to teach the days of creation account from the Bible.  We talked about each day of creation, read books relating to what God created that day, sang a song, and did a craft or snack or some kind of activity incorporating that topic.  The kids really seemed to have a lot of fun, learned a lot, and STILL REMEMBER what they learned!

This seems sort of like what I read about unit studies – at least having a single theme for the week to tie in with book to read, handwriting, crafts, etc.   It seems to capture the kids (and my!) interest and attention better, though it is a lot of preparation work for me.  (Partly because I get all these “great” ideas at the last minute when there isn’t really time to get things together or find the books that I want/need to go along with my ideas.)

The outline for the curriculum I’m using this year seems to show some kind of grouping by themes, but somehow I’ve missed it in the weekly schedule for our reading and activities.  Granted, the handwriting, language arts (reading instruction, creative writing instruction) are separate packages from the core history/geography/etc. because you pick those based on whatever level your child is supposed to be at.

I’m not sure I really want to go the full-blown “unit study” route, But…this experience gave me some direction for at least the rest of this school year.  I went through the schedule for  the rest of the year and regrouped it according to topics/themes that made sense to me and came up with some ideas of how to incorporate crafts and other activities to relate to them, and handwriting assignments to reinforce what we are learning as well as giving them practice on their penmanship.

And on another aspect of homeschooling… I love the role Ronnie plays in educating the kids.  He’s not able to be involved in the day-to-day basics (other than hearing them tell about what they’ve learned and been doing).  But on weekends and holidays (especially if I leave the house for a few hours), he does things with them that I NEVER would or could do with them.

Such as taking apart the old TV to see how it works…  they watched a YouTube video about how to do (safely!) and what to expect, and then did it.  Travis couldn’t stop talking about it and asking questions about electricity, etc. at supper time.

 

 

And, we’ve been listening to a CD recording of A.A Milne’s Winne-the-Pooh stories.  So, I found a Winnie-the-Pooh Treasury book at the library and look what happened that afternoon/evening:

 

They watched another YouTube video about painting and mixing colors.  The lady showed how to paint some flowers.  So, later that day, I gave Travis some paints and paper and this is what he did (it looks very much like the painting the lady on YouTube did, and he wasn’t looking at that picture while he was painting this.)

 

And why do things taste better from Mom’s cutting board than they do from your plate?